56 pages • 1 hour read
Bethany C. MorrowA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“There’s nothing like being in the water. People ask me if it’s quiet, if that’s why I like it. It makes sense; I’m quiet, I must want the world to be the same way.
Tavia asks me that; Tavia is people.
The thing about being underwater is that it’s not—quiet, I mean. I can’t hear what’s happening above the surface, but when I’m totally submerged, I hear the water. I hear its song, the way it sings to itself and anybody who comes below to hear it. I love the way it never changes, and the way I’m always different when I’m here.
Sometimes I bring my head above the surface when I don’t need a breath, just so I can duck back under and hear the song start again.”
Effie voices her passion for water, a key part of her character. These descriptions of water develop her character and provide sensory imagery—reinforcing water as a safe haven and alluding to the motif of siren songs.
“Part of the reason we immediately glommed onto each other must be that we know what it is to feel like there’s something wrong with us. And like our families know it. I didn’t know anyone else understood the sting of love mingled with obvious disapproval till I saw Mr. Philips with Tavia.
And still sometimes I envy them. Because at least there’s blood between them.
At least they know what Tavia is.
At least she knows what her family disapproves of.”
The theme of The Bonds of Sisterhood is present in this quote, giving context and specificity to Tavia and Effie’s unbreakable bond based on a shared feeling of being othered. Effie also reveals her envy over not knowing her identity and Tavia’s family’s disapproval. Searching for her identity is Effie’s plot line.
“I barely have time to get in the house before the lecture begins. Earlier I’d been relieved not to have to see my dad all day, but really that only made it worse. It’s meant that in the background, everywhere we were and no matter what I was doing, I kept imagining his response.
Not his words, but the way they’d make me feel.”
Tavia’s anxiety over facing her father Rodney is a repeated conflict that suppresses her sirenness and ability to speak up. She doesn’t want to anger or disobey him, but Rodney is a fearful, harsh character whose concern for Tavia manifests as commands and disapproval.